Free Audio + MIDI Sequencer For Linux Updated

The Rosegarden team has announce the release of version 10.02 of Rosegarden, an audio and MIDI sequencer and musical notation editor for Linux.

Here's a rundown of the new features:

General

Most windows have special function-related icons associated with them, so it is easier to use your desktop task manager to find the window you seek

Improved flashing metronome mode and more realistic looking LEDs for the transport

Rosegarden comes bundled with a library of composition templates (.rgt files), and any file can be saved as a template with the new File ⇒ Save As Template option

New support for Frontier Design Group’s TranzPort™ contributed by Immanuel Litzroth

The MIDI device manager can now import bank and program information from LinuxSampler .lscp files

The automatic clef guessing feature (used in a variety of contexts, such as when importing MIDI or splitting a segment by pitch) now adds transposing clefs to its repertoire in order to avoid excessive ledger lines in parts that extend to the extremes of reproducible pitch

New pan and zoom allows you to move around quickly, and zoom the window contents as far in or out as you like, or zoom either axis independently

You can now add a layer to the part you're editing with just one click. The “Add Layer” function uses the currently active segment as a template for creating a new “layer” segment in the same place, with the same clefs and key signatures, but in a contrasting color

The segment changer (located with the pan and zoom controls) provides a visual indication of which segment is currently active for editing, even in continuous page layout mode, and allows you to change segments without removing your right hand from your mouse

Print and Print Preview are both performed through LilyPond, which provides extremely high-quality output

Expanded range of point sizes (from 6 to 30) available for LilyPond export

New interactive LilyPond Print/Preview allows you to configure your preferences for which applications you prefer to use for printing files and viewing PDFs, and compares the result of the LilyPond conversion operation against your LilyPond export options in order to offer intelligent suggestions for what steps to take when things go wrong

New support for notation symbols, giving Rosegarden the ability to display (non-operative) segno, coda and breath mark symbols

New marks for open, stopped/muted, and harmonic/flageolet

New cycle slashes function allows you to use the / shortcut or the new toolbar icon to cycle through from 0 to 5 slashes on selected notes

All marks are exported to LilyPond now, and mark placement has been aligned with LilyPond's placement rules, following the philosophy that they have spent vastly more time studying best notation practices than we have, and where we disagreed, we were wrong

Add Trill With Line moves from Note =⇒ Marks… and the marks toolbar to Phrase and the group toolbar, reflecting an internal change that transforms this from a mark attached to a single note into a more flexible indication that can span any number of (usually tied) notes. The mark version still exists internally to preserve compatibility with existing compositions

Even quicker and improved keyboard access to inserting notes and rests, with the default duration determined by the denominator of the current time signature

More compact notation toolbar layout combines note and rest entry in one place, freeing up space, and improving efficiency

When using the notation editor to insert notes, long notes are tied at barlines by default, so red barlines are less common

Matrix

At long last it is possible to open multiple segments (from any number of different tracks) in the same matrix view

The pitch highlights on I III and V are now calculated relative to the key signature in effect, rather than being fixed against C major

Notes and pitch highlights are always displayed in concert pitch, allowing you to work with segments in many different transpositions simultaneously on the same grid, even though they appear as completely different notes in completely different keys in a notation view

Cleaner interface leaves the instrument parameters in the main window, so you have more room for editing what's important

New pan and zoom allows you to move around quickly, and zoom the window contents as far in or out as you like, or zoom either axis independently

The segment changer (located with the pan and zoom controls) provides a visual indication of which segment is currently active for editing, and allows you to change segments without removing your right hand from your mouse

Is is now possible to insert key changes from the matrix

The standard matrix now allows the possibility of opening the same segments in a percussion matrix, and vice versa

New Pitch Bend Sequence allows you to insert a series of calculated, machine-generated pitch bends to create a variety of vibrato effects

Translucent event bars make it easier to see and work with overlapping notes

Audio

If the JACK audio server is not already running, Rosegarden will start it for you transparently

If you attempt to record to a document named “Untitled” you will be prompted to name your composition before continuing, so as to promote better housekeeping over time

New controls available from the main window and the audio mixer allow you to give audio and synth plugin instruments (eg. “Audio #3” or “Synth #5”) custom names

When recording, the composition title and custom audio instrument name (if provided) are used in the filename in order to make it much easier to work with recorded audio files outside of their original context. Instead of rg-20091123-102030-1.wav you can now have something like rg-[Jam Session 12]-[Bobs_Guitar]-2009-11-23_10.20.30-1.wav